I know it has already gone viral, but its still great!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2PM0om2El8&feature=player_embedded
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Books into Film
I have decided that the movie industry must be entirely out of movie ideas. I realize that turning a good novel into a good movie has been attempted since the beginning of movies but the last few years seems to be the only thing happening. And they seem to be converted from books into movies quicker than ever.
Lets look at 2009/2010. We had Lovely Bones, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, My Sister's Keeper, Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince (of course), New Moon, Dear John, Alice in Wonderland, Inkheart, Angels & Demons, The Lightening Thief, Eat Pray Love, The Informant... and those are just the ones off the top of my head!
Now it seems that every best seller book I read is being turned into a movie. The Help by Kathryn Stockett is one of my favorite reads of 2010 so far. It is already being filmed. I just discovered today that Water for Elephants is being filmed starring Rob Pattison of Twilight Saga fame and Reese Witherspoon. I love Reese, but I hate Rob. I am now torn because it was such a great book! I have also previously mentioned that Never Let Me Go is going to be coming out starring Keira Knightley. And The Book Thief is also going to be released as a movie in 2011, as is Half a Yellow Sun and those are the ones I already know of, in addition to the continuing Twiglight Saga and...sniff sniff, the final in Harry Potter.
In some ways I am very OK with all of the books into movies. It draws people in to read the books and it supports the movie industry as readers go to see the movie version. This is a big bonus. The only thing I can wish for is that movie theatres would have "films that were Books" displays in the same way many libraries/bookstores and their websites have "books into films" displays.
It does irritate me how inaccurate the movies are compared to the books, but compared to the benefits I will suck it up.
So in summary my friends- be sure to take a closer look at the movies you are watching, if you enjoyed it there is probably a book that preceded it. Check it out and enjoy it too!
Lets look at 2009/2010. We had Lovely Bones, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, My Sister's Keeper, Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince (of course), New Moon, Dear John, Alice in Wonderland, Inkheart, Angels & Demons, The Lightening Thief, Eat Pray Love, The Informant... and those are just the ones off the top of my head!
Now it seems that every best seller book I read is being turned into a movie. The Help by Kathryn Stockett is one of my favorite reads of 2010 so far. It is already being filmed. I just discovered today that Water for Elephants is being filmed starring Rob Pattison of Twilight Saga fame and Reese Witherspoon. I love Reese, but I hate Rob. I am now torn because it was such a great book! I have also previously mentioned that Never Let Me Go is going to be coming out starring Keira Knightley. And The Book Thief is also going to be released as a movie in 2011, as is Half a Yellow Sun and those are the ones I already know of, in addition to the continuing Twiglight Saga and...sniff sniff, the final in Harry Potter.
In some ways I am very OK with all of the books into movies. It draws people in to read the books and it supports the movie industry as readers go to see the movie version. This is a big bonus. The only thing I can wish for is that movie theatres would have "films that were Books" displays in the same way many libraries/bookstores and their websites have "books into films" displays.
It does irritate me how inaccurate the movies are compared to the books, but compared to the benefits I will suck it up.
So in summary my friends- be sure to take a closer look at the movies you are watching, if you enjoyed it there is probably a book that preceded it. Check it out and enjoy it too!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Shanghai Girls
Lisa See is an American author who looks like she could never understand the hardships she writes about in Shanghai Girls, her newest novel released in May 2009. In fact, after reading Girls I was surprised to look at the back cover and see someone who looked as Caucasian as I; but Ms. See is of Chinese decent, and her family has very much lived many of the events discussed in this book. I felt awful making such assumptions that just because she didn't look Chinese, doesn't mean she wasn't or that she didn't truly understand what she was writing about. That lesson is taught in the book and you think I would've caught it then, if not before. So shame on me for my assumptions, and thank you Lisa for this great book and all of your knowledge!
Shanghai girls is about the life of a pair of sisters as they make their way through wars, immigration, working, stereotypes, fear, death, trauma, happiness and every other possible event or emotion one could feel. It’s a quick read, its an easy to follow read but it is an engaging read and you just can’t put it down.
I had originally checked it out as an audio book. Thinking it sounded good but not something I would get around to reading soon, so I put it in the truck. Well, it was so engaging I checked out the book because I can read faster than it is read to me. I was so engrossed in it that I still kept the audio book in the truck, skipping to where I’d finished reading and then when I got home I could skip forward the pages I had listened to.
What I admired about the book was that there were inconsistencies-and when thinking about them, I realize they were intentional. They were used to make the reader think and realize the struggle these “beautiful girls” went through and the decisions made.
I had a few moments where I, yet again, realized how much a person can learn from reading fiction. As an example, there were moments in the book involving Chinese gods and traditions that I was really to appreciate for the moments they were instead of being curious as to their roles in the culture and what these gods represented, etc. I knew this because only a few months ago I had read Amy Tan’s The Kitchen God’s Wife where I had read about the gods who were a large part of the novel.
I didn’t like the ending at all. It felt like the beginning of a series. I understand why it ended that way-the story isn’t about the daughter, its about the sisters. But I still didn’t have finality. There is still so much they are about to experience as sisters which is just as important as the other stories and struggles and messages we experience in the book.
In addition to this book I have discovered Lisa See is amazingly informative on the Chinese culture in California and specifically Los Angeles and Hollywood. In addition, her Facebook page includes a lot of two way communication on the topic. I have gathered that this is where part of her family settled when they came to North America and that they were a large part of "China Town" in Los Angeles. I was very surprised at the wealth of knowledge evident on both her website and her Facebook page. I wish more authors were like that.
Shanghai girls is about the life of a pair of sisters as they make their way through wars, immigration, working, stereotypes, fear, death, trauma, happiness and every other possible event or emotion one could feel. It’s a quick read, its an easy to follow read but it is an engaging read and you just can’t put it down.
I had originally checked it out as an audio book. Thinking it sounded good but not something I would get around to reading soon, so I put it in the truck. Well, it was so engaging I checked out the book because I can read faster than it is read to me. I was so engrossed in it that I still kept the audio book in the truck, skipping to where I’d finished reading and then when I got home I could skip forward the pages I had listened to.
What I admired about the book was that there were inconsistencies-and when thinking about them, I realize they were intentional. They were used to make the reader think and realize the struggle these “beautiful girls” went through and the decisions made.
I had a few moments where I, yet again, realized how much a person can learn from reading fiction. As an example, there were moments in the book involving Chinese gods and traditions that I was really to appreciate for the moments they were instead of being curious as to their roles in the culture and what these gods represented, etc. I knew this because only a few months ago I had read Amy Tan’s The Kitchen God’s Wife where I had read about the gods who were a large part of the novel.
I didn’t like the ending at all. It felt like the beginning of a series. I understand why it ended that way-the story isn’t about the daughter, its about the sisters. But I still didn’t have finality. There is still so much they are about to experience as sisters which is just as important as the other stories and struggles and messages we experience in the book.
In addition to this book I have discovered Lisa See is amazingly informative on the Chinese culture in California and specifically Los Angeles and Hollywood. In addition, her Facebook page includes a lot of two way communication on the topic. I have gathered that this is where part of her family settled when they came to North America and that they were a large part of "China Town" in Los Angeles. I was very surprised at the wealth of knowledge evident on both her website and her Facebook page. I wish more authors were like that.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Computers with Legs & Spiffy Personalities...
I promised myself that I wouldn't relate my blog to work often. However, even before working in a library I believed in libraries. I believed in their place in culture, the community and doing it for free. I believe in their ability to provide access to everyone.
The NPR blog wrote this and I like it. They claim Libraries are the next cool thing because we're green, local, librarians are fighters and everyone likes a fighter-and because librarians aren't geeks anymore. Library personnel are apparently your computers-with legs and a spiffy personality. So says NPR. So have a look at the blog post!
The NPR blog wrote this and I like it. They claim Libraries are the next cool thing because we're green, local, librarians are fighters and everyone likes a fighter-and because librarians aren't geeks anymore. Library personnel are apparently your computers-with legs and a spiffy personality. So says NPR. So have a look at the blog post!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Social Economics & the Masses.
Is it just me or is the world finally embracing economics? Is it just me or are they doing that because they are finally explaining economics in a way that makes sense to people.
It all seemed to have started with Freakaonomics, a fantastic book that showed us that whether or not we realize it that we are influenced in many ways-particularly by incentive.
Then Malcolm Gladwell came with Blink, A Tipping Point & Outliers. All of these books explain parts of our psyche in a psychology meets economics meets sociology kind of way-and I love it!
I have Blink on my night stand now and I’m halfway through. I haven’t delved into others of Gladwell’s yet, but that is because I am reading Superfreakanomics, a sequel if you will to the first. So far, it seems an even easier read than the first while still providing us with seemingly useless knowledge that proves patterns that are useful-and that is what makes them fun!
What I love about these types of books is that they give you useless trivia you never wanted to know but is fun to know-prostitution isn’t as financially rewarding as it used to be and if you teach monkeys to use money they will inevitably use indulge in crime and prostitution. But they also show you things we should know and we should be thinking of. For example they illustrate just how much big companies have influence over our laws and legislation. The statistical analysis they show is that car seats, as an example, are no more protective-even when properly installed- than a good old fashioned seat belt for those over two-when it comes to major injuries. They are more helpful for minor injuries. They argue that the reason car seats are a huge deal instead of getting automakers to make smaller seat belts for children for the backseat of the car is because of the powerful lobbying of industry. I think this is absolutely worth investigating and understanding. I think on some level we all know that the industry influences our politicians, even here in Canada. I mean, it can be the only logical reasoning for some of the decisions we see. But do we realize it has gone so far as things we now see as the norm are only the norm because industry has convinced us and our governments it should be?
This conversation can go on its own tangent and maybe it should-we can talk about bottled water, the book Consumed and things like that. But that isn’t my point today. My point is to illustrate how appreciative I am of the books like Freakanomics, Superfreakanomics, Blink and others who bring humor and easy writing to the world of economics so that we might begin to understand these things.
And for the record, Superfreakanomics doesn’t say you shouldn’t use a car seat. In fact they encourage it because it is found to protect better against small injuries which you are more likely to sustain.
It all seemed to have started with Freakaonomics, a fantastic book that showed us that whether or not we realize it that we are influenced in many ways-particularly by incentive.
Then Malcolm Gladwell came with Blink, A Tipping Point & Outliers. All of these books explain parts of our psyche in a psychology meets economics meets sociology kind of way-and I love it!
I have Blink on my night stand now and I’m halfway through. I haven’t delved into others of Gladwell’s yet, but that is because I am reading Superfreakanomics, a sequel if you will to the first. So far, it seems an even easier read than the first while still providing us with seemingly useless knowledge that proves patterns that are useful-and that is what makes them fun!
What I love about these types of books is that they give you useless trivia you never wanted to know but is fun to know-prostitution isn’t as financially rewarding as it used to be and if you teach monkeys to use money they will inevitably use indulge in crime and prostitution. But they also show you things we should know and we should be thinking of. For example they illustrate just how much big companies have influence over our laws and legislation. The statistical analysis they show is that car seats, as an example, are no more protective-even when properly installed- than a good old fashioned seat belt for those over two-when it comes to major injuries. They are more helpful for minor injuries. They argue that the reason car seats are a huge deal instead of getting automakers to make smaller seat belts for children for the backseat of the car is because of the powerful lobbying of industry. I think this is absolutely worth investigating and understanding. I think on some level we all know that the industry influences our politicians, even here in Canada. I mean, it can be the only logical reasoning for some of the decisions we see. But do we realize it has gone so far as things we now see as the norm are only the norm because industry has convinced us and our governments it should be?
This conversation can go on its own tangent and maybe it should-we can talk about bottled water, the book Consumed and things like that. But that isn’t my point today. My point is to illustrate how appreciative I am of the books like Freakanomics, Superfreakanomics, Blink and others who bring humor and easy writing to the world of economics so that we might begin to understand these things.
And for the record, Superfreakanomics doesn’t say you shouldn’t use a car seat. In fact they encourage it because it is found to protect better against small injuries which you are more likely to sustain.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Book Journals
I own three different book journals. I have looked at and almost bought many more. I love the concept of a book journal. It’s different sections allow me to stay organized with an area for me to think about what I read and journal/review, an area for me to keep a list of the books I want to read, and those I’ve lent/borrowed. They are fantastically useful-if you find the right one.
I own: 501 Must Read Books Book Journal, book notes Journal, and Read, Remember, Recommend: A Reading Journal for Book Lovers.
501 is great because it is small & portable and has the 3 parts to the book. First,half the book is for reviews. It starts with the star rating system, title & author, date you read and then leaves lots of lines for you to fill in. The flaw is that its small so I end up using an extra “review” almost every time, but because there are so many pages it doesn’t seem to fill quickly. The second half of the book is actually broken into 3 small parts: books lent, borrowed and reading wishlist. What I like about this one is that the layout is a simple list style with one line to list the book, who you lent it to, the date and a check box for whether or not it was returned. The books borrowed section is the same. As a result they have 20 spots per page and over 10 pages a section-lots of room! Even the Reading Wishlist area is efficient. Title, author, who recommended it, and a check box for once it has been read. Done.
The third part of the book journal is how it gets its name. It is an 8 page list of 501 must read books, alphabetical. With check boxes for if you’ve read them. I would be curious to know how they came up with the list. It ranges from young adult books like Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland to books like Three Men in a Boat, and other obscure classics, and of course the ones you would expect to find. As this journal is a couple of years old I would say you won’t find anything newer than 5 or 6 years old in the list. The only problem I have with the list is that it is a simple check list. Check box if you have read. No where to indicate ones that you may want to read-because few of us will read all 501. But that is easily fixed by keeping a small travel highlighter in the back pocket of the book and highlighting the ones I want to read.
Other great features to this book include a built in book marker so that you can mark your last review, the mentioned pocket in the back and an elastic to keep everything pressed tightly together. Another great feature-there is cover art for some of the 501 books throughout, as well as “did you know” facts throughout the review section- like, did you know: “Children’s and Household Tales, published by the brothers Grimm in the early 19th century, were collected in the French and German countryside as part of their research into linguistics. These old folk tales include Cinderella, Snow White, Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel.” …and now you know.
The flaws of the book are minimal-lines for titles are not long enough, lines for “recommended by” are too long. Review space isn’t long enough either. And there are no tabs for the different sections or indicator so with the exception of that one book mark you are flipping the pages till you find the right place. But the size is right and it is simply laid out.
book notes journal was a gift from my husband. One that I wanted badly. I thought it would be fantastic- it has a section tabs for Recommended Reads, Reading Notes, Favorite Quotes, and Books Borrowed and Lent. Each of the tabs are stiff pockets so if you run out of room you can tuck your pages in it. This is what sold me, as I always run out of room in a book journal in less than a year. It also has the elastic closure so that nothing falls out and other cute features like book quotes through and a highly useful section for listing resources.
The Recommended section is great-3 straight forward lines for books recommended to you-Title, Author, Recommended by. The Books Borrowed/Lent is a straight forward grid: Title, To, From, Date. This set up is the best I have seen because most give you an event amount of space for loaning and borrowing. But here there is no limitation to one category. With this type of layout Now I just have to put my name in the From or To in order to indicate whether I lent it or borrowed it.
Despite these great features I have discovered the more I used this book journal the less I like it. Why? Well, let us start with the publishing quality. When I found this book on the book shelf most of the tab pages were in upside down. So when hubby bought me one I warned him and he looked for one whose tabs weren’t upside down-but alas instead of upside down tabs I have some upside down review pages. Not such a huge deal since a line is a line, but it looks unprofessional and frustrates me every time I come across another.
Second, in the review section they alternate giving you one page for two reviews and the next page is for one review. At first, this seemed wise to me. If I knew I had a lot to think about or review I just turned to a full page review, and when I didn’t I used a short one. Now the problem is that all of the long ones are filled. So, why not do what I’ve done before and when you finish a short one then continue the next page? Because the next page is a long review and therefore full. So I am skipping a couple of pages in order to get to the second half of the review. Its now a semi-disorganized mess.
Also, when I looked and wanted this book I loved that the review section appeared to be about 1/3 of the book. Alas, I discovered 3 months into owning the book that halfway through the reading notes section is actually another section-so did they forget a tab? It wouldn’t surprise me since they can’t manage to put the pages in right side up or the tabs in other editions. This hidden section is called Books Read and is just simply a place to list all of the books you read. Which actually is not a bad feature-I don’t analyze or review every book I read, otherwise I wouldn’t do anything else. But nonetheless it means that my actual space for reviewing was half that I expected and is more or less full long before the rest of the book.
The quotes page was a unique feature to this book and a great place for me to write down page references or passages that were my “ah ha!” moments. But at 14 pages I have begun using it as extra review space because I simply don’t need that kind of room.
All in all its not a bad book, but it wasn’t a cheap one either. It is my only hardcover version, and is very pretty. It is also quite large-7X5 most likely. But for the 30.00 price tag attached to it I would not recommend it, when the 501 Must Read is more conveniently stored/carried, has all the basics, and was a whole 5 or 6 dollars. But at the same time, I love the books lent/borrowed section and use it exclusively among my other journals.
Lastly we come upon my newest book journal-I just got it last week. Read, Remember, Recommends. I follow the blog called Book Club Classics, which I have mentioned before. And she raved about this book as well as the teen version. Amazon even allows you to look inside. I did, I liked what I saw. At first I bought a copy for the library-specifically for the book club so I can keep track of the books they’ve read, are reading and like.
There are some great features to it. First, tabbed sections include an Awards & Notables List, To Read, Journal Pages, Recommendations, Loaner Lists and Resources. The selling feature is without a doubt the huge section that lists all the major award winners nationally and internationally-including Canada-and lists of recommended books by notable papers and blogs. This section even allows room to make your own list and rom to add award winners as announced over upcoming years. This section is about 150 pages long!
The award section is composted of a grid where The award title appears at the top followed by a listing of the year, the title, the author, symbols representing other awards it has won, a column to check if you own the book, one for Recommend, one for To Read, and one for want. It even has a little “how to” at the beginning that explains the different awards and how to use the boxes. It suggests that if you would like to read the book you should simply put an / in the To Read column, and once you’ve read it, finish it off to make an X. Kind of ingenious and simple all at the same time.
After having seen the awards section I showed Read, Remember, Recommends to my book club and suddenly had to order 10 copies-including one for me! Plus I ordered a copy of the teens version for the library and a couple as door prizes in the upcoming year for the library too.
The To Read section of the book contains the same boxes with more room for title, author and one line for notes. What is different from this book to the ones I have already reviewed is that the To Read section is more where books recommended to me go and the Recommendation section is where books I would like to recommend go. I find this a little strange and useless, likely because I don’t keep track of books I would recommend to others. If I liked the book I will likely recommend it to someone, depending on their reading style.
In the To Read section, it also contains the same boxes as the awards section. So once I’ve actually read the book I can check off whether or not I would recommend it, adding another reason that the Recommended section is useless.
Ahh the Journal Pages. I have a love/hate relationship with the journal pages. It is like they took the journal pages of book notes and its secret section for listing all of the books you’ve read and combined them into one. Each page is split into a main column and a thin narrow one. There are plenty of lines on each page. The instructions direct you to always record the author & title but then it is up to you. You can either use the lines for journaling about the book you’ve read and use the thin column to record page references. Or you can just simply record the titles and the date you read them.
The problem is that there is no specific start/end place for an entry because of the multi use ability. And every line is bold so you can event bold at the end of a review to start the next place. It becomes hard to tell the difference from one to the next and the use of a small travel highlighter again becomes necessary. But I have decided to use the pages as a list of the books I’ve read. This book has become more of an organizer for me than a book journal. The awards section is the best I’ve ever seen, the resources section at the end is a mountain of information, the To Read section is one of the best I’ve seen as well. This book falls short in the review area and also, the loan/borrow section is the same as most others so I don’t like it after owning book notes.
In terms of a book lover’s list organizer and resources keeper this book wins hands down and is my new favorite. But as an actual journal it fails. I love their check box system. But the bizarre journal pages leave me grumpy. On a PS note, this book is also larger and thick- you’d have to have a luggage sized purse in order for it to be “hidden” away.
So I guess it depends on what you are looking for in a book journal. But for me, I want all three of these. I love the portability of 501, I love the loaner list portion of book notes, and I love most of the things about RRR (though it is essentially missing a journaling section).
I hope this helps anyone out there looking for a journal, and if any book publishers out there have a new one they would like me to look at-you now know what I want in a book journal! I challenge you to give it to me for a review! I love to use book journals, even if there isn’t a perfect one out there.
I own: 501 Must Read Books Book Journal, book notes Journal, and Read, Remember, Recommend: A Reading Journal for Book Lovers.
501 is great because it is small & portable and has the 3 parts to the book. First,half the book is for reviews. It starts with the star rating system, title & author, date you read and then leaves lots of lines for you to fill in. The flaw is that its small so I end up using an extra “review” almost every time, but because there are so many pages it doesn’t seem to fill quickly. The second half of the book is actually broken into 3 small parts: books lent, borrowed and reading wishlist. What I like about this one is that the layout is a simple list style with one line to list the book, who you lent it to, the date and a check box for whether or not it was returned. The books borrowed section is the same. As a result they have 20 spots per page and over 10 pages a section-lots of room! Even the Reading Wishlist area is efficient. Title, author, who recommended it, and a check box for once it has been read. Done.
The third part of the book journal is how it gets its name. It is an 8 page list of 501 must read books, alphabetical. With check boxes for if you’ve read them. I would be curious to know how they came up with the list. It ranges from young adult books like Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland to books like Three Men in a Boat, and other obscure classics, and of course the ones you would expect to find. As this journal is a couple of years old I would say you won’t find anything newer than 5 or 6 years old in the list. The only problem I have with the list is that it is a simple check list. Check box if you have read. No where to indicate ones that you may want to read-because few of us will read all 501. But that is easily fixed by keeping a small travel highlighter in the back pocket of the book and highlighting the ones I want to read.
Other great features to this book include a built in book marker so that you can mark your last review, the mentioned pocket in the back and an elastic to keep everything pressed tightly together. Another great feature-there is cover art for some of the 501 books throughout, as well as “did you know” facts throughout the review section- like, did you know: “Children’s and Household Tales, published by the brothers Grimm in the early 19th century, were collected in the French and German countryside as part of their research into linguistics. These old folk tales include Cinderella, Snow White, Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel.” …and now you know.
The flaws of the book are minimal-lines for titles are not long enough, lines for “recommended by” are too long. Review space isn’t long enough either. And there are no tabs for the different sections or indicator so with the exception of that one book mark you are flipping the pages till you find the right place. But the size is right and it is simply laid out.
book notes journal was a gift from my husband. One that I wanted badly. I thought it would be fantastic- it has a section tabs for Recommended Reads, Reading Notes, Favorite Quotes, and Books Borrowed and Lent. Each of the tabs are stiff pockets so if you run out of room you can tuck your pages in it. This is what sold me, as I always run out of room in a book journal in less than a year. It also has the elastic closure so that nothing falls out and other cute features like book quotes through and a highly useful section for listing resources.
The Recommended section is great-3 straight forward lines for books recommended to you-Title, Author, Recommended by. The Books Borrowed/Lent is a straight forward grid: Title, To, From, Date. This set up is the best I have seen because most give you an event amount of space for loaning and borrowing. But here there is no limitation to one category. With this type of layout Now I just have to put my name in the From or To in order to indicate whether I lent it or borrowed it.
Despite these great features I have discovered the more I used this book journal the less I like it. Why? Well, let us start with the publishing quality. When I found this book on the book shelf most of the tab pages were in upside down. So when hubby bought me one I warned him and he looked for one whose tabs weren’t upside down-but alas instead of upside down tabs I have some upside down review pages. Not such a huge deal since a line is a line, but it looks unprofessional and frustrates me every time I come across another.
Second, in the review section they alternate giving you one page for two reviews and the next page is for one review. At first, this seemed wise to me. If I knew I had a lot to think about or review I just turned to a full page review, and when I didn’t I used a short one. Now the problem is that all of the long ones are filled. So, why not do what I’ve done before and when you finish a short one then continue the next page? Because the next page is a long review and therefore full. So I am skipping a couple of pages in order to get to the second half of the review. Its now a semi-disorganized mess.
Also, when I looked and wanted this book I loved that the review section appeared to be about 1/3 of the book. Alas, I discovered 3 months into owning the book that halfway through the reading notes section is actually another section-so did they forget a tab? It wouldn’t surprise me since they can’t manage to put the pages in right side up or the tabs in other editions. This hidden section is called Books Read and is just simply a place to list all of the books you read. Which actually is not a bad feature-I don’t analyze or review every book I read, otherwise I wouldn’t do anything else. But nonetheless it means that my actual space for reviewing was half that I expected and is more or less full long before the rest of the book.
The quotes page was a unique feature to this book and a great place for me to write down page references or passages that were my “ah ha!” moments. But at 14 pages I have begun using it as extra review space because I simply don’t need that kind of room.
All in all its not a bad book, but it wasn’t a cheap one either. It is my only hardcover version, and is very pretty. It is also quite large-7X5 most likely. But for the 30.00 price tag attached to it I would not recommend it, when the 501 Must Read is more conveniently stored/carried, has all the basics, and was a whole 5 or 6 dollars. But at the same time, I love the books lent/borrowed section and use it exclusively among my other journals.
Lastly we come upon my newest book journal-I just got it last week. Read, Remember, Recommends. I follow the blog called Book Club Classics, which I have mentioned before. And she raved about this book as well as the teen version. Amazon even allows you to look inside. I did, I liked what I saw. At first I bought a copy for the library-specifically for the book club so I can keep track of the books they’ve read, are reading and like.
There are some great features to it. First, tabbed sections include an Awards & Notables List, To Read, Journal Pages, Recommendations, Loaner Lists and Resources. The selling feature is without a doubt the huge section that lists all the major award winners nationally and internationally-including Canada-and lists of recommended books by notable papers and blogs. This section even allows room to make your own list and rom to add award winners as announced over upcoming years. This section is about 150 pages long!
The award section is composted of a grid where The award title appears at the top followed by a listing of the year, the title, the author, symbols representing other awards it has won, a column to check if you own the book, one for Recommend, one for To Read, and one for want. It even has a little “how to” at the beginning that explains the different awards and how to use the boxes. It suggests that if you would like to read the book you should simply put an / in the To Read column, and once you’ve read it, finish it off to make an X. Kind of ingenious and simple all at the same time.
After having seen the awards section I showed Read, Remember, Recommends to my book club and suddenly had to order 10 copies-including one for me! Plus I ordered a copy of the teens version for the library and a couple as door prizes in the upcoming year for the library too.
The To Read section of the book contains the same boxes with more room for title, author and one line for notes. What is different from this book to the ones I have already reviewed is that the To Read section is more where books recommended to me go and the Recommendation section is where books I would like to recommend go. I find this a little strange and useless, likely because I don’t keep track of books I would recommend to others. If I liked the book I will likely recommend it to someone, depending on their reading style.
In the To Read section, it also contains the same boxes as the awards section. So once I’ve actually read the book I can check off whether or not I would recommend it, adding another reason that the Recommended section is useless.
Ahh the Journal Pages. I have a love/hate relationship with the journal pages. It is like they took the journal pages of book notes and its secret section for listing all of the books you’ve read and combined them into one. Each page is split into a main column and a thin narrow one. There are plenty of lines on each page. The instructions direct you to always record the author & title but then it is up to you. You can either use the lines for journaling about the book you’ve read and use the thin column to record page references. Or you can just simply record the titles and the date you read them.
The problem is that there is no specific start/end place for an entry because of the multi use ability. And every line is bold so you can event bold at the end of a review to start the next place. It becomes hard to tell the difference from one to the next and the use of a small travel highlighter again becomes necessary. But I have decided to use the pages as a list of the books I’ve read. This book has become more of an organizer for me than a book journal. The awards section is the best I’ve ever seen, the resources section at the end is a mountain of information, the To Read section is one of the best I’ve seen as well. This book falls short in the review area and also, the loan/borrow section is the same as most others so I don’t like it after owning book notes.
In terms of a book lover’s list organizer and resources keeper this book wins hands down and is my new favorite. But as an actual journal it fails. I love their check box system. But the bizarre journal pages leave me grumpy. On a PS note, this book is also larger and thick- you’d have to have a luggage sized purse in order for it to be “hidden” away.
So I guess it depends on what you are looking for in a book journal. But for me, I want all three of these. I love the portability of 501, I love the loaner list portion of book notes, and I love most of the things about RRR (though it is essentially missing a journaling section).
I hope this helps anyone out there looking for a journal, and if any book publishers out there have a new one they would like me to look at-you now know what I want in a book journal! I challenge you to give it to me for a review! I love to use book journals, even if there isn’t a perfect one out there.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Electronic Book Databases.
First before I get started on what I’m talking about today I have to say I am writing this under the shade of my new gazebo sunshade in my backyard. I feel like a princess-it’s huge and gorgeous! Ahhhhhhh….
Now the important stuff!
One of my favorite things to do with my books-other than read them- is to “play” with them-I like to alphabetize, categorize, journal about them, recommend them, catalogue them-just generally touch them. I love the feel of books.
So it stands to reason that I have a book catalogue. And that my friends is what I want to share with you today. I have had several calls at work from people asking to help them design databases for home libraries and comic collections. Plus, I do it a lot at home. I have tried several incarnations- an excel sheet, a program online called BookDB. And finally my Ipod app, called, appropriately, iBookshelf. Now all of them were highly useful if all you were wanting to do was catalogue, but iBookshelf wins hands down for professional looking, easy data entry and easy entry removal. With BookDB it looked like a database you would never want anyone to see-geeky and complicated. It really wasn’t, but at first glance that is how it looks. I should point out too that all of the applications I’ve tried have been free, because, well, I’m cheap and the less I spend on other stuff, the more I have for books.
What is great about iBookshelf is that when I turn my iTouch on its side it becomes a slideshow of my books' cover art. I can scroll through them in alphabetic order to see what I have. The thing that makes entries so quick is that you only have to enter is the ISBN number. Then it searches its databases and enters the author name, title, cover image, publishing date, edition, genre, etc all on its own! This of course becomes a bit of a problem when you have an edition for which there was no ISBN number, or it can’t find the ISBN number-and that does happen. But in that case I just suck it up, search by title alone, choose a different version of the same book and make a note in its notes field that I don’t own this exact edition.
Another feature is that it isn’t just for books you own. When you catalog an entry you can choose own, borrow, loan or want. Then on the main screen you can choose to just view the books by this category. So if I am in a book store looking for a new purchase I can peruse my want list, or if I can't seem to find a book I can look through my loan list to see if I gave it out, etc.
When you choose own you can choose to enter a library name. So for example, I have a bookshelf upstairs, a bookshelf of my husband’s books and a shelf in my bedroom, and 3 more in the basement next to my husband’s books. So I use this library feature to enter in the location of the book in my house. In the borrow field I can enter in who I borrowed the book from, when I borrowed it and when I returned it. I can also sink this feature with my day timer and set a reminder to return the book. The loan feature allows me to note who I lent a book to, when and whether they returned it and when.
The downside to this feature is that the backup is done through email and I have yet to figure out how to reinstate a backup as I lost everything when I upgraded to OS4 (lets not even get me started but apple, I’m loving you a little less recently. Your fantastic applications are the only thing making me stay in this relationship).
This is still the best free application I have came across, even if I do end up having to type them all in again. Why? Because it is quick and simple. It looks good too. And its portable. With excel or the BookDB, if I didn’t have my computer with me-or at least a memory stick and access to a computer with the same programs, I couldn’t access my home library list. But with the iBookshelf, it doesn’t matter because my itouch goes everywhere I go!
So of those I have tried, if you’re an ipod user, go with that. If you’re not I would stick with excel. It’s customization allows for you to make your database whatever you need it to be.
Now the important stuff!
One of my favorite things to do with my books-other than read them- is to “play” with them-I like to alphabetize, categorize, journal about them, recommend them, catalogue them-just generally touch them. I love the feel of books.
So it stands to reason that I have a book catalogue. And that my friends is what I want to share with you today. I have had several calls at work from people asking to help them design databases for home libraries and comic collections. Plus, I do it a lot at home. I have tried several incarnations- an excel sheet, a program online called BookDB. And finally my Ipod app, called, appropriately, iBookshelf. Now all of them were highly useful if all you were wanting to do was catalogue, but iBookshelf wins hands down for professional looking, easy data entry and easy entry removal. With BookDB it looked like a database you would never want anyone to see-geeky and complicated. It really wasn’t, but at first glance that is how it looks. I should point out too that all of the applications I’ve tried have been free, because, well, I’m cheap and the less I spend on other stuff, the more I have for books.
What is great about iBookshelf is that when I turn my iTouch on its side it becomes a slideshow of my books' cover art. I can scroll through them in alphabetic order to see what I have. The thing that makes entries so quick is that you only have to enter is the ISBN number. Then it searches its databases and enters the author name, title, cover image, publishing date, edition, genre, etc all on its own! This of course becomes a bit of a problem when you have an edition for which there was no ISBN number, or it can’t find the ISBN number-and that does happen. But in that case I just suck it up, search by title alone, choose a different version of the same book and make a note in its notes field that I don’t own this exact edition.
Another feature is that it isn’t just for books you own. When you catalog an entry you can choose own, borrow, loan or want. Then on the main screen you can choose to just view the books by this category. So if I am in a book store looking for a new purchase I can peruse my want list, or if I can't seem to find a book I can look through my loan list to see if I gave it out, etc.
When you choose own you can choose to enter a library name. So for example, I have a bookshelf upstairs, a bookshelf of my husband’s books and a shelf in my bedroom, and 3 more in the basement next to my husband’s books. So I use this library feature to enter in the location of the book in my house. In the borrow field I can enter in who I borrowed the book from, when I borrowed it and when I returned it. I can also sink this feature with my day timer and set a reminder to return the book. The loan feature allows me to note who I lent a book to, when and whether they returned it and when.
The downside to this feature is that the backup is done through email and I have yet to figure out how to reinstate a backup as I lost everything when I upgraded to OS4 (lets not even get me started but apple, I’m loving you a little less recently. Your fantastic applications are the only thing making me stay in this relationship).
This is still the best free application I have came across, even if I do end up having to type them all in again. Why? Because it is quick and simple. It looks good too. And its portable. With excel or the BookDB, if I didn’t have my computer with me-or at least a memory stick and access to a computer with the same programs, I couldn’t access my home library list. But with the iBookshelf, it doesn’t matter because my itouch goes everywhere I go!
So of those I have tried, if you’re an ipod user, go with that. If you’re not I would stick with excel. It’s customization allows for you to make your database whatever you need it to be.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
The Red Tent
So prior to me starting at the library the book club there had read The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. Based on the discussion I was happy to have missed it-a book about women and their periods, really? Not that the topic makes me uncomfortable, I just couldn’t see it being a good story.
And then I won a copy from one of my favorite book blogs: Book Club Classics. But even then it sat on my book shelf for months. As I asked people about the book too many good reports have come my way about this book, and I like historical fiction. Plus, having recently read Lamb by Christopher Moore I am intrigued by seeing biblical characters as real humans.
This story is a powerful story of sisterhood, of love, of trauma, but primarily of womanhood. At the end of this book I have never felt so proud to be a woman as I had after reading this book- we are strong, we are versatile, we are talented, we are smart, and yet we feel, we’re compassionate, we are human and goddess.
Even the portrayal of worshipping, of sacrfices, of customs and rituals did not seem as archaic and savage as tribal rituals are often portrayed in modern literature. I felt a longing for a ritual around the time where we become women instead of a clinical sex talk-now you can get pregnant and you’re going to be awkward and moody once a month for most of the rest of your life- congrats, because teenagehood isn’t awkward enough. In the book it was a right of passage, something you waited for and longed for, something that made you important. What a powerful concept.
The other interesting thing that I still haven’t sorted out is the character of Joseph in the book. I wanted him so much to be loyal to Dinah throughout their lives. And I am still not sure I understand his character. Perhaps that is because I didn’t understand nor do I, the difference between women and men in that time. It is hard to when contrasting the sons of Jacob with Shalem. Shalem is a man of modern times. Perhaps that is why his story goes the way it does. BAH! Writing deeply about this is difficult when I don’t want to ruin the story!
It is a wonderfully moving book and I encourage all of you women out there to read it and celebrate being a woman!
And then I won a copy from one of my favorite book blogs: Book Club Classics. But even then it sat on my book shelf for months. As I asked people about the book too many good reports have come my way about this book, and I like historical fiction. Plus, having recently read Lamb by Christopher Moore I am intrigued by seeing biblical characters as real humans.
This story is a powerful story of sisterhood, of love, of trauma, but primarily of womanhood. At the end of this book I have never felt so proud to be a woman as I had after reading this book- we are strong, we are versatile, we are talented, we are smart, and yet we feel, we’re compassionate, we are human and goddess.
Even the portrayal of worshipping, of sacrfices, of customs and rituals did not seem as archaic and savage as tribal rituals are often portrayed in modern literature. I felt a longing for a ritual around the time where we become women instead of a clinical sex talk-now you can get pregnant and you’re going to be awkward and moody once a month for most of the rest of your life- congrats, because teenagehood isn’t awkward enough. In the book it was a right of passage, something you waited for and longed for, something that made you important. What a powerful concept.
The other interesting thing that I still haven’t sorted out is the character of Joseph in the book. I wanted him so much to be loyal to Dinah throughout their lives. And I am still not sure I understand his character. Perhaps that is because I didn’t understand nor do I, the difference between women and men in that time. It is hard to when contrasting the sons of Jacob with Shalem. Shalem is a man of modern times. Perhaps that is why his story goes the way it does. BAH! Writing deeply about this is difficult when I don’t want to ruin the story!
It is a wonderfully moving book and I encourage all of you women out there to read it and celebrate being a woman!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Never Let Me Go
So the other day I found out that Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is becoming a movie. And it is coming out Septmeber 15th. The book is amazing. It is one of those books I talked about last time- that I found out through a person who found it through a person and I couldn’t understand why I had never heard of it before.
Here is a synopsis of the book:
The novel describes the life of Kathy H., a young woman of 31, focusing at first on her childhood at an unusual boarding school and eventually her adult life. The story takes place in a dystopian Britain, in which human beings are cloned to provide donor organs for transplants. Kathy and her classmates have been created to be donors, though the adult Kathy is temporarily working as a "carer," someone who supports and comforts donors as they are made to give up their organs and, eventually, submit to death.
For full summary go here.
Originally published in 2005 what I love about this book is that it is horrifying and enthralling at the same time. The theme- that some children are raised solely to become organ donors for the rest of the population seems completely against nature. It is simply horrifying to me that you could be born into a life you are forced to live. I was surprised there wasn’t more suicide rates in the school.
At the same time, it is a science fiction where the horror comes from the fact we realize this could possibly happen.
What makes this book readable for the non-sci fi reader is the fact that the novel focuses on the relationships. Kathy’s friends fall in love and prove themselves to be more than clones-they’re human.
But the reason I am telling you about this book is not just because I think you should put it on your to read list before the movie comes out. I am also really unsure whether or not this movie is going to be successful. Yes, it starts Kiera Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Sally Hawkins. Yes, they have moved up the release date to be a fall blockbuster. But I am really not sure that the mass movie going public is going to be ready for this topic. The book is moving, it is gritty, it is scary and fascinating. If the trailer is any indication, the movie has the potential to be all of these things as well. This topic may be to dark for the general public. I know I can’t get most of my friends to read the book- even those who generally trust my opinion with books.
I guess we will wait to see, but I’m calling it now. Minor hit, at best. Not because it won’t be a good movie but because its dark.
Here’s a preview for the trailer:
Here is a synopsis of the book:
The novel describes the life of Kathy H., a young woman of 31, focusing at first on her childhood at an unusual boarding school and eventually her adult life. The story takes place in a dystopian Britain, in which human beings are cloned to provide donor organs for transplants. Kathy and her classmates have been created to be donors, though the adult Kathy is temporarily working as a "carer," someone who supports and comforts donors as they are made to give up their organs and, eventually, submit to death.
For full summary go here.
Originally published in 2005 what I love about this book is that it is horrifying and enthralling at the same time. The theme- that some children are raised solely to become organ donors for the rest of the population seems completely against nature. It is simply horrifying to me that you could be born into a life you are forced to live. I was surprised there wasn’t more suicide rates in the school.
At the same time, it is a science fiction where the horror comes from the fact we realize this could possibly happen.
What makes this book readable for the non-sci fi reader is the fact that the novel focuses on the relationships. Kathy’s friends fall in love and prove themselves to be more than clones-they’re human.
But the reason I am telling you about this book is not just because I think you should put it on your to read list before the movie comes out. I am also really unsure whether or not this movie is going to be successful. Yes, it starts Kiera Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Sally Hawkins. Yes, they have moved up the release date to be a fall blockbuster. But I am really not sure that the mass movie going public is going to be ready for this topic. The book is moving, it is gritty, it is scary and fascinating. If the trailer is any indication, the movie has the potential to be all of these things as well. This topic may be to dark for the general public. I know I can’t get most of my friends to read the book- even those who generally trust my opinion with books.
I guess we will wait to see, but I’m calling it now. Minor hit, at best. Not because it won’t be a good movie but because its dark.
Here’s a preview for the trailer:
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Good Books You Never Hear About...
These are probably my favorite kind of books. I don’t hear about them from Oprah, an award announcement or the bestseller’s list. I stumble upon them at the library, a display at the book store, or through a friend and I am transfixed. The books that are soo good you don’t understand why it took so long to discover it, or why it seems no one else has either. They are the books you tell your friends about and suddenly the one or two copies in the library are on hold for months. Ahhh, the power of word of mouth.
But it makes a person wonder what takes it for a book to make it. Close to 1 million books are published around the world every year so its easy to see how books get easily missed each year and easily forgotten after a year. And if a million books are published it really is a precious thing to “make it big.” So the question is, how do they make it? How do you make that break through, how do you get short listed? How do you get noticed & loved?
Well I did some research and it does unfortunately appear that, typical of any mass produced products these days, you have to have the money for marketing and PR and persistence by the author/agent/publisher. And a gimmick. But that was on the surface, the more I looked the more it got so complicated that it gave me a headache and I gave up(see below). I think this is one of my times where I’d rather just “damn the man” and claim it’s impossible. But don’t cave to my simple mind, here’s a link from the Association of Canadian Publishers.
Now that being said, they aren’t always right either. How do I know this? Well, let us take a look at Mary-Ann Kirkby’s I am Hutterite. She took that book to many publishers that are part of the association and they all said no. They all said there was no audience. So she published it herself. She started her own company to market it herself, and now it is a national best seller. She is the winner of the 2007 Saskatchewan Book Award. And now she is being picked up by US publisher Thomas Nelson for a US release of the book. So the question is what did the publisher’s miss? Why didn’t they see its potential?
On a bigger level: JK Rowling and Harry Potter- it is well documented that over a dozen publishers turned her down what became the bestselling children’s series of all time and it has literally turned Ms. Rowling from Rags to Riches.
So yet again, I still don’t really have an answer. But hopefully I am making you think about all the hard work it takes the author, the editors and the publishers to get that book in your hand; that you have even heard of the book. So treasure your finds, and when you do find a treasure share it with the world!
In the meantime, here are some of my favorite discoveries:
Watermark by Vanitha Sankaran
Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
The Cure for Modern Life by Lisa Tucker
The Almond Picker by Simonetta Agnello Hornby (translated from Italian)
*I want you to know I don't intend on being a lazy blogger. But I've been busy. Maybe one day I'll interview someone who reads manuscripts for living and get the answer to the question and share it with the world (aka you). But in the mean time, just accept my apologizes for being a lazy blogger.
But it makes a person wonder what takes it for a book to make it. Close to 1 million books are published around the world every year so its easy to see how books get easily missed each year and easily forgotten after a year. And if a million books are published it really is a precious thing to “make it big.” So the question is, how do they make it? How do you make that break through, how do you get short listed? How do you get noticed & loved?
Well I did some research and it does unfortunately appear that, typical of any mass produced products these days, you have to have the money for marketing and PR and persistence by the author/agent/publisher. And a gimmick. But that was on the surface, the more I looked the more it got so complicated that it gave me a headache and I gave up(see below). I think this is one of my times where I’d rather just “damn the man” and claim it’s impossible. But don’t cave to my simple mind, here’s a link from the Association of Canadian Publishers.
Now that being said, they aren’t always right either. How do I know this? Well, let us take a look at Mary-Ann Kirkby’s I am Hutterite. She took that book to many publishers that are part of the association and they all said no. They all said there was no audience. So she published it herself. She started her own company to market it herself, and now it is a national best seller. She is the winner of the 2007 Saskatchewan Book Award. And now she is being picked up by US publisher Thomas Nelson for a US release of the book. So the question is what did the publisher’s miss? Why didn’t they see its potential?
On a bigger level: JK Rowling and Harry Potter- it is well documented that over a dozen publishers turned her down what became the bestselling children’s series of all time and it has literally turned Ms. Rowling from Rags to Riches.
So yet again, I still don’t really have an answer. But hopefully I am making you think about all the hard work it takes the author, the editors and the publishers to get that book in your hand; that you have even heard of the book. So treasure your finds, and when you do find a treasure share it with the world!
In the meantime, here are some of my favorite discoveries:
Watermark by Vanitha Sankaran
Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
The Cure for Modern Life by Lisa Tucker
The Almond Picker by Simonetta Agnello Hornby (translated from Italian)
*I want you to know I don't intend on being a lazy blogger. But I've been busy. Maybe one day I'll interview someone who reads manuscripts for living and get the answer to the question and share it with the world (aka you). But in the mean time, just accept my apologizes for being a lazy blogger.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Historical Fiction. The Good, the Bad, the Entertaining.
**DISCLAIMER** Today’s conversation on historical fiction discusses The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Doyle. I love this book. You should go read it. But do so before reading this post. The things I say in this post, had I thought about them or known them before reading it the first time, may have changed my opinion of it. The magic would be gone. So please, read the book first!
************************************************************************************
I seem to be on a bit of a trend in my reading- historical fiction set in WWII. In the last year I have probably read close to 10, or more, and other 5-6 on my book shelf. In fact right now I just started Suite Francaise.
I do not seem to be the only one reading this genre either. Even the generation who experienced the war first hand are inhaling this genre and setting. So what makes us attracted to this genre? I think it may be two fold. The first being that the setting itself makes it easier to develop a story of self discover and love. It has been done many times before –we know the story already. But at the same time with so many places and people and cultures that it is a different story every time.
But I think the most compelling reason we’re drinking it in is that it enables us to remember the past and still be distant; plus it allows us to relate a little to the wars our nations are currently in.
We understand the need to learn and know the past but we find it difficult to read the history books-it can be dull and political. But as humans we are social and compassionate and connect through relationships. As such, reading historical fiction set in WWII allows us to connect and we think we learn to understand, remember, learn and grow all while being entertained. It’s amazing this power of literature, isn’t it?
But does that mean historical fiction is the best way to learn about our past? Of course not. In fact, I would be inclined to lean towards the argument that historical fiction for those not also watching History TV, researching online, reading the history books or at least discussing the book's content is actually going to contribute to the ignorance around the subject. Why? Because you feel like you know what happened and you’re beginning to understand the time but that likely isn’t true. Our emotions are more powerful than our knowledge.
In historical fiction authors can take license to change facts to work with their story. Without research, or at least discussion, as a reader you do not know where that line is, it may be in dates, times, locations, or concept that has been changed to fit the story.
Lets look at an example, The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas by John Doyle. This is a short children’s novel but one of my favorite WWII fiction books. Why? Because it moved me in a way that books seldom do. It made me feel for the Jews but also for the innocence of German children too. It made me wonder what it would’ve been like to be a German child during WWII. The most moving moments connect me to the present and the last couple of pages will resonate with me for a long time.
Despite my love for this book, I know that it is reported to be quite historically incorrect. First, there is the constant misunderstanding of German words and terms by the little boy whom the author claims only speaks German, the fact that they killed children at concentration camps so Schmuel would never have lived, or the fact the real fence around Auschwitz was electrified making a key plot moment impossible. The inaccuracy of Doyle’s portrayal of the maturity of 8 & 12 year old children is actually quite bad and leads to a lot of the complaints about the book. These issues really only scratches the surface, but it does prove my point.
After reading this book I feel like I understood a little more about what Jewish people went through in Auschwitz and particularly Jewish children. This is absolutely not the case based on what I just said above. Until reading up on it I was still entirely ignorant to the facts. And had I not heard so many complaints after I had read it I never would have looked up the facts. I thought I understood thanks to this book, but in fact I did not.
While emotions are often more powerful than knowledge the best and most comprehensive understanding- the one that can break the ignorance- is a combination of compassion and knowledge. Feel like you understand but read the facts too so you really do understand.
Does this mean we’re better off without historical fiction- NO! It is good to feel compassion. That is useful in other ways. Historical fiction can also lead a person to the historical facts (as it did me in the case of Stripped Pajamas). It is an introduction and it is great entertainment. I would just argue that people need to remind themselves it is just fiction.
To end this already lengthy post here are some of my favorite WWII historical fiction:
1. Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Doyle
2. The Guernsey Literary and Potatoe Peel Pie Society
3. The Postmistress
4. Suite francaise (likely, I’m only 20 pages in).
5. Atonement
6. The Great Escape
7. Sarah’s Key
Ones I haven’t read yet but suspect I will love:
8. Five Quarters of the of the Orange
9. The Kindly Ones
10. The Book Thief
11. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
12. The Reader
13. The Madonnas of Leningrad
14. A woman in Berlin
15. Those Who Save Us
16. Cutting for stone
************************************************************************************
I seem to be on a bit of a trend in my reading- historical fiction set in WWII. In the last year I have probably read close to 10, or more, and other 5-6 on my book shelf. In fact right now I just started Suite Francaise.
I do not seem to be the only one reading this genre either. Even the generation who experienced the war first hand are inhaling this genre and setting. So what makes us attracted to this genre? I think it may be two fold. The first being that the setting itself makes it easier to develop a story of self discover and love. It has been done many times before –we know the story already. But at the same time with so many places and people and cultures that it is a different story every time.
But I think the most compelling reason we’re drinking it in is that it enables us to remember the past and still be distant; plus it allows us to relate a little to the wars our nations are currently in.
We understand the need to learn and know the past but we find it difficult to read the history books-it can be dull and political. But as humans we are social and compassionate and connect through relationships. As such, reading historical fiction set in WWII allows us to connect and we think we learn to understand, remember, learn and grow all while being entertained. It’s amazing this power of literature, isn’t it?
But does that mean historical fiction is the best way to learn about our past? Of course not. In fact, I would be inclined to lean towards the argument that historical fiction for those not also watching History TV, researching online, reading the history books or at least discussing the book's content is actually going to contribute to the ignorance around the subject. Why? Because you feel like you know what happened and you’re beginning to understand the time but that likely isn’t true. Our emotions are more powerful than our knowledge.
In historical fiction authors can take license to change facts to work with their story. Without research, or at least discussion, as a reader you do not know where that line is, it may be in dates, times, locations, or concept that has been changed to fit the story.
Lets look at an example, The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas by John Doyle. This is a short children’s novel but one of my favorite WWII fiction books. Why? Because it moved me in a way that books seldom do. It made me feel for the Jews but also for the innocence of German children too. It made me wonder what it would’ve been like to be a German child during WWII. The most moving moments connect me to the present and the last couple of pages will resonate with me for a long time.
Despite my love for this book, I know that it is reported to be quite historically incorrect. First, there is the constant misunderstanding of German words and terms by the little boy whom the author claims only speaks German, the fact that they killed children at concentration camps so Schmuel would never have lived, or the fact the real fence around Auschwitz was electrified making a key plot moment impossible. The inaccuracy of Doyle’s portrayal of the maturity of 8 & 12 year old children is actually quite bad and leads to a lot of the complaints about the book. These issues really only scratches the surface, but it does prove my point.
After reading this book I feel like I understood a little more about what Jewish people went through in Auschwitz and particularly Jewish children. This is absolutely not the case based on what I just said above. Until reading up on it I was still entirely ignorant to the facts. And had I not heard so many complaints after I had read it I never would have looked up the facts. I thought I understood thanks to this book, but in fact I did not.
While emotions are often more powerful than knowledge the best and most comprehensive understanding- the one that can break the ignorance- is a combination of compassion and knowledge. Feel like you understand but read the facts too so you really do understand.
Does this mean we’re better off without historical fiction- NO! It is good to feel compassion. That is useful in other ways. Historical fiction can also lead a person to the historical facts (as it did me in the case of Stripped Pajamas). It is an introduction and it is great entertainment. I would just argue that people need to remind themselves it is just fiction.
To end this already lengthy post here are some of my favorite WWII historical fiction:
1. Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Doyle
2. The Guernsey Literary and Potatoe Peel Pie Society
3. The Postmistress
4. Suite francaise (likely, I’m only 20 pages in).
5. Atonement
6. The Great Escape
7. Sarah’s Key
Ones I haven’t read yet but suspect I will love:
8. Five Quarters of the of the Orange
9. The Kindly Ones
10. The Book Thief
11. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
12. The Reader
13. The Madonnas of Leningrad
14. A woman in Berlin
15. Those Who Save Us
16. Cutting for stone
Monday, July 5, 2010
Cherished Books
Reading grows with the reader. From a child you move from picture books, to I Can Read books, to your first chapter books, to small novels, and slowly into the genres we enjoy be they fiction or non. As your comprehension skills improve, as your life experiences change so does a person’s reading. But even as we move forward readers tend to have favorite books in the same way we have other favorite memories from our past. Perhaps they link us to a favorite time, a favorite person; or maybe they changed the way we looked at the world. It is the power of literature –to teach me, to grow with me, to remind me and link me all while allowing me to escape that causes us to love reading. It is the connection. So with that in mind, here are my most cherished books:
The books that mean the most to me:
1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
2. Sweet Valley Twins: A Christmas without Elizabeth
3. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
4. Shakespeare’s Sonnets
5. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore
I cannot explain in one post the reasons why they are all here in detail, so I will just summarize quickly. To start with all of these books are nostalgically connected to my past. For me, three of them, Little Women, Sweet Valley and Shakespeare, symbolize the power of literature to make a person feel and learn about the world around them even though you are reading fiction.
I will say, if I had my choice, Fear & Loathing wouldn’t be on the list. However, it is on there because it is the book that I recommended to a perfect stranger despite never having read it before. Later the stranger called me to borrow it (apparently I gave him the impression I owned it??!! I had to run to Chapters to buy it, beat it up so it looked like I had actually read it, so I could lend it to him). And later yet, the stranger became my husband. Had I known this, I 100% would’ve chosen a different book. Bah! What kind of romantic book geek story does that make when that is the title?
But of all of them Little Women is the one I keep going back to. I mentioned before that I read and reread Little Women and get something new out of it every time. My first memory of Little Women was the copy that was on my mother’s book shelf when I was a girl. I wasn’t allowed to touch it. I knew her grandmother had given it to her. It was beat up and well read even then. I don’t remember when, but one day I wanted that story instead of a night time story and she began reading that to me at nights. I really have no idea if we ever read the whole thing or whether I actually understood it, but I remember having my own edition by grade three. I remember re reading it in grade 5 and wanting to be exactly like Josephine and thinking my first crush was exactly like Laurie so why on earth didn’t Jo choose him?! It was very much a love story. In Jr. High it was a book of women’s rights. Jo could make her own choices, do her own thing, despite the norms and expectations around her-why couldn’t I? That message continues to resonate with me to this day. I have taken further messages from the book: more on the strength of women together and as individuals, of civil war history, of philosophy, of love, and so much more. I’ve wanted Beth and Marmie’s goodness, I sympathized with Aimee and Meg, I wanted to be (and often continue to want to be) Jo. I still have a crush on dear Laurie. And I never liked Aunt March though I now understand why she was the way she was. It is a book for anyone old or young and I look forward to the day I have a child to share it with.
And if you haven't ever read it, of all of the books on this list, I recommend that you do.
The books that mean the most to me:
1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
2. Sweet Valley Twins: A Christmas without Elizabeth
3. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
4. Shakespeare’s Sonnets
5. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore
I cannot explain in one post the reasons why they are all here in detail, so I will just summarize quickly. To start with all of these books are nostalgically connected to my past. For me, three of them, Little Women, Sweet Valley and Shakespeare, symbolize the power of literature to make a person feel and learn about the world around them even though you are reading fiction.
I will say, if I had my choice, Fear & Loathing wouldn’t be on the list. However, it is on there because it is the book that I recommended to a perfect stranger despite never having read it before. Later the stranger called me to borrow it (apparently I gave him the impression I owned it??!! I had to run to Chapters to buy it, beat it up so it looked like I had actually read it, so I could lend it to him). And later yet, the stranger became my husband. Had I known this, I 100% would’ve chosen a different book. Bah! What kind of romantic book geek story does that make when that is the title?
But of all of them Little Women is the one I keep going back to. I mentioned before that I read and reread Little Women and get something new out of it every time. My first memory of Little Women was the copy that was on my mother’s book shelf when I was a girl. I wasn’t allowed to touch it. I knew her grandmother had given it to her. It was beat up and well read even then. I don’t remember when, but one day I wanted that story instead of a night time story and she began reading that to me at nights. I really have no idea if we ever read the whole thing or whether I actually understood it, but I remember having my own edition by grade three. I remember re reading it in grade 5 and wanting to be exactly like Josephine and thinking my first crush was exactly like Laurie so why on earth didn’t Jo choose him?! It was very much a love story. In Jr. High it was a book of women’s rights. Jo could make her own choices, do her own thing, despite the norms and expectations around her-why couldn’t I? That message continues to resonate with me to this day. I have taken further messages from the book: more on the strength of women together and as individuals, of civil war history, of philosophy, of love, and so much more. I’ve wanted Beth and Marmie’s goodness, I sympathized with Aimee and Meg, I wanted to be (and often continue to want to be) Jo. I still have a crush on dear Laurie. And I never liked Aunt March though I now understand why she was the way she was. It is a book for anyone old or young and I look forward to the day I have a child to share it with.
And if you haven't ever read it, of all of the books on this list, I recommend that you do.
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